Craig Michael Kimbrel (born May 28, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, New York Mets, Tampa Bay Rays, and Kansas City Royals. He is a nine-time All-Star, four-time Reliever of the Year, and a 2018 World Series champion.
As a rookie with the Braves in 2011, Kimbrel was named their closer, set an MLB record for saves by a rookie with 46, and won the National League's (NL) Rookie of the Year Award. He led the NL in saves for four consecutive seasons (2011– 2014). He recorded his 200th save in June 2015 with the Padres, and his 300th save in May 2018 with the Red Sox, making him the youngest pitcher in MLB history to reach the milestone. On May 26, 2023, Kimbrel became the eighth MLB pitcher to achieve 400 career saves.
Kimbrel pitched for the United States national team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
Kimbrel was born on May 28, 1988, in Huntsville, Alabama, to Mike and Sandy Kimbrel. He attended Lee High School, where he played baseball and was a quarterback for the football team. In baseball, he was a teammate of Buddy Boshers.
Kimbrel attended Wallace State Community College. In 2007, Kimbrel had an 8–0 win–loss record with a 1.99 earned run average (ERA) as a freshman, serving as the team's closer and a spot starter. In 2008, he was 9–3 with a 2.88 ERA, striking out 123 hitters in 81 innings pitched (for an elite rate of 13.67 K/9) mainly as a reliever.
The Atlanta Braves selected Kimbrel in the 33rd round of the 2007 MLB draft, but he elected to remain at Wallace State in order to improve his draft position. He was then taken by the Braves in the third round, with the 96th overall selection, of the 2008 MLB draft.
Kimbrel got his first call-up from the Gwinnett Braves on May 15, 2010, to replace the injured Jair Jurrjens on the roster. He was called up for the second time in his career on June 4, 2010, to replace Takashi Saito, who was placed on the 15-day DL. He earned his first major league save on September 19, 2010, against the New York Mets. Kimbrel's record for the 2010 season was 4–0, with one save and a 0.44 ERA in 20+2⁄3 innings. He recorded 40 strikeouts and 16 walks. In the National League Division Series, he was the losing pitcher in Game 3 against the eventual World Series champion San Francisco Giants.
Kimbrel made the roster to start the 2011 season as the team's primary closer. He was successful in his first four save opportunities before blowing his first career save on April 21. On June 3, in a game against the New York Mets, Kimbrel passed the record for most saves by a National League (NL) rookie before the All-Star break. He is the fastest Braves pitcher to reach 100 career strikeouts, doing so in 59+1⁄3 career innings, surpassing the previous record set by John Rocker, who needed 70 innings to reach 100 strikeouts. On July 5, Kimbrel' 26th save matched Jonathan Papelbon's MLB record for most saves by a rookie before the All-Star break. On July 7, Kimbrel's 27th save of the year against the Colorado Rockies broke Papelbon's record.
Kimbrel was selected to the All Star Game as a rookie. San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy chose Kimbrel as a replacement for pitcher Matt Cain.
On July 22, in a game versus the Cincinnati Reds, Kimbrel broke the Braves rookie record for saves in a season (31). On August 9, in a game versus the Florida Marlins, Kimbrel tied the NL rookie record for saves in a season (36 by Todd Worrell of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1986). He broke that record on August 17 in a game versus San Francisco. On August 21, Kimbrel recorded his 100th strike out, his 39th save of the season, and a streak of 30+2⁄3 innings without yielding a run. On August 23, Kimbrel recorded his 40th save, tying the rookie save record of Neftalí Feliz. Kimbrel broke this record on August 31 with two strikeouts in a game against the Washington Nationals. At the time, he led the majors in saves and had not given up a run in his last 34 innings. The following night, Kimbrel surpassed Cliff Lee's mark of 34 scoreless innings with 34+2⁄3 scoreless innings for the longest scoreless streak in the majors in 2011. He was named the NL Rookie of the Month and Delivery Man of the Month for August. His scoreless inning streak came to an end after 38+1⁄3 innings, on September 9.
The Braves' season ended when Kimbrel blew a save against the Philadelphia Phillies in the last game of the season. The loss knocked Atlanta out of playoff contention, completing a historic late-season collapse that squandered an early September lead of 8+1⁄2 games in the NL Wild Card race. Kimbrel's mediocre September (4.76 ERA) led to charges that manager Fredi González had overworked him during the season.
Kimbrel ended the season tied for the NL lead with 46 saves and led major league relievers with 127 strikeouts in 77 innings.
On November 14, the Baseball Writers' Association of America announced the results of their NL Rookie of the Year vote; Kimbrel received all 32 first-place ballots—the first unanimous selection since 2001 winner Albert Pujols. Teammate Freddie Freeman finished second in the voting with 21 second-place votes and seven third-place votes, for a total of 70 points—making the pair the first teammates to take the top two spots since 1989, when the Chicago Cubs' Jerome Walton and Dwight Smith came in first and second. The only other time two Braves had finished in the top five, the organization was located in Milwaukee—Gene Conley was voted third-best rookie of the 1954 season; Hank Aaron came in fourth. Kimbrel was also named the Players Choice Awards NL Outstanding Rookie by the MLB Players Association.
Kimbrel again made the All-Star team in 2012. He struck out the two batters he faced. He won the Delivery Man of the Month Award for September. On September 26, he struck out four batters in the ninth inning.
Kimbrel was thoroughly dominant throughout the 2012 season. He led the NL with 42 saves (in 45 opportunities) and Win Probability Added among pitchers. He struck out 116 batters in 62+2⁄3 innings, producing a K/9 rate of 16.7. In so doing, he also became the first pitcher in history to strike out at least half the batters he faced during a season. He also went to an 0–2 count on 56% of the batters he faced. Kimbrel allowed only 3.9 hits and 2 walks per nine innings pitched, giving him a WHIP of 0.65 and a batting average against of .126. He finished with an ERA of 1.01. He won the NL Rolaids Relief Man Award. Kimbrel finished fifth in the NL Cy Young Award voting and eighth in NL MVP voting.
Kimbrel began the 2013 season with three blown saves during his first nine save opportunities, tying his personal record for blown saves during the entire 2012 season. Nonetheless, on May 9, in a game against San Francisco, Kimbrel earned his 100th save, making him the second -oungest player in MLB history to reach that mark. With a save against the Cardinals on July 27, he became only the second Atlanta pitcher after John Smoltz to have three 30-save seasons. Kimbrel surpassed Smoltz's Braves record of 27 consecutive saves on August 17.
On September 27, Kimbrel recorded his 50th save of the season in a game against the Philadelphia Phillies. In doing so, he became the 11th pitcher in MLB history to have a 50-save season. He won the Delivery Man of the Year Award (across all of MLB) and also was voted the "GIBBY Awards" Closer of the Year – by the fans, media, team front-office personnel, former players, and SABR.
On February 16, 2014, Kimbrel agreed to a four-year, $42 million extension with the Braves that ran through 2017, with an option for 2018. On April 2, Kimbrel tied Gene Garber's 141 saves with the Braves, good for second in franchise history. Two days later, on April 4, Kimbrel recorded his 142nd career save, to move into sole possession of second place. On April 25, Kimbrel became the fastest pitcher ever to reach 400 strikeouts—reaching the mark in 236 innings' worth of work. On June 6, Kimbrel recorded his 155th save in a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, surpassing John Smoltz as the new franchise leader in saves. On August 29, Kimbrel recorded his 40th save of the season. He became the third pitcher to reach that single-season milestone in four straight seasons. Kimbrel finished the season with a 1.61 ERA and 95 strikeouts in 61+2⁄3 innings. He led the NL with 47 saves, becoming the first pitcher to lead the NL in saves for four consecutive seasons since Bruce Sutter (1979–82).